Electronic message boards and classified listings commonly are used to facilitate the exchange of information between hirers and applicants. Internet web sites including Monster.com (U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,497 to Taylor), focus specifically on the collection, storage, retrieval and indexed or keyword searching of stored application materials and resumes. The system envisages charging fees for access to such databases and also to control access of applicants based on the payment of a fee.
These job-listing systems have a substantial drawback from the point of view of the applicant in that no tangible measure of service is provided in return for payment. Many such services therefore are offered free. There is no guarantee of any positive outcome for the applicant, who may have no knowledge of the procedures that the company may use in evaluating the application. This system and similar ones exhort applicants to submit their personal information and may make it available to any and all potential employers. In return, the applicants may receive an interview call leading to a job offer, but in the vast majority of cases they receive automated responses or a cursory rejection notice. These systems, by increasing the efficiency of the methods of submitting applications, have induced applicants to apply to ever-increasing numbers of companies without seriously considering their qualifications or even interest to work for the company.
This has led to a situation wherein qualified and interested candidates must submit to the same process as the unqualified majority, leading to a situation where qualified candidates feel it a waste of time trying to apply through these automated channels and rely instead on time tested personal networks and “friends and family” to turn up job leads.
Electronic auctioning and trading systems are known, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,569 to Miller et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,515 to Lee, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,136,501 and 5,077,665 to Silverman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,928 to Fujisaki U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,072 to Nymeyer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,164 to Ogden, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,099 to Harrington et al.
The Miller patent relates to an electronic “auctioning” system specifically directed to allocating computer resources such as transmission bandwidth of a multiplicity of network links interconnecting the users. The system allocates resources to maximum declared values based upon the second highest bid such that successful bidders are charged an opportunity cost for the goods.
The Lee patent discloses a secure teleprocessing bidding system relating to a secret bidding process. The system maintains the bids secret from other bidders until after the period for bidding is closed. The system is intended to eliminate bid procedure violations and provides an electronic record of the bids received.
The Silverman et al. patents disclose an electronic trade matching system for trading instruments in which bids are automatically matched against offers for the given trading instruments. The system uses a network to connect the host computer with bidding and offering clients of the system.
The Fujisaki patent discloses an auction information transmission processing system that sets up a hierarchical system of host and server computers, which are configured to minimize the data transmitted between computers during an auction. The system is designed to allow auction participants to be spread out over a wide area. The system was directed to auctioning of specific items such as used cars.
The Nymyer patent discloses an apparatus that automates the process of price determination in a market for fungible goods and consequently eliminates or reduces the influence of human judgment in such price determinations.
The Ogden patent discloses a method and apparatus that receives job application information from job applicants using automated, electronic methods. It is designed to remove human errors in obtaining, processing and storing applicant related information while reducing the cost of procuring such information incurred by hiring companies.
The Harrington et al. patent discloses an Internet-based municipal bond auction system in which the auctioneer maintains an auction database that is accessed by users by a conventional Internet browser.